Fine gauge double knit fabric

ABSTRACT

AN IMPROVED FINE GAUGE DOUBLE KNIT FABRIC AND ITS METHOD OF MANUFACTURE IS DISCLOSED, THE FABRIC HAVING LONG AND SHORT LOOPS DRAWN TO ONE SIDE OF THE FABRIC AND OTHER LONG AND SHORT LOOPS DRAWN TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE FABRIC, THE SHORT LOOPS ON EACH SIDE OF THE FABRIC BEING ARRANGED IN PAIRS IN EACH OF WHICH THE LOOPS INTERMESH IN WALES OF THE FABRIC, THE LONG LOOPS AND THE PARIS OF SHORT LOOPS ON EACH SIDE OF THE FABRIC ALTERNATING IN COURSES AND WALES, AND INTERMESHING THE WALES.

Feb. 9, 1971 L. MISHCON ETAL FINE GAUGE'DOUBLE KNIT FABRIC Filed Sept. 19, 1969 nm wmf m h e X w w% d 1 m M am .5 k

B .I. Q m F. .EW mm Mm ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,561,234 FINE GAUGE DOUBLE KNIT FABRIC Lester Mishcon, Miami Beach, and Donald W. Reagan, Hialeah, Fla., assignors to The Singer Company, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New Jersey Filed Sept. 19, 1969, Ser. No. 859,253 Int. Cl. D04b 9/08 US. Cl. 66-196 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An improved fine gauge double knit fabric and its method of manufacture is disclosed, the fabric having long and short loops drawn to one side of the fabric and other long and short loops drawn to the other side of the fabric, the short loops on each side of the fabric being arranged in pairs in each of which the loops intermesh in wales of the fabric, the long loops and the pairs of short loops on each side of the fabric alternating in courses and wales, and intermeshing in the wales.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION (1) Field of the invention The invention relates to knitted fabrics and more particularly to double knit cloth such as may for example be conveniently produced on cylinder and dial type circular knitting machines.

(2) Description of the prior art Fine gauge double knit fabrics are desired for use in womens dresses, mens trousers and other garments, however, presently available fine gauge double knit fabrics (such fabrics being knit on circular interlock machines having long and short needles that alternate about the cylinder and dial of the machine, and knit and welt at alternate feeds) are not entirely satisfactory.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the invention there is provided an improved fine gauge double knit fabric which is readily producible on circular interlock machines.

It is an object of the invention to provide a fine gauge double knit fabric which is stronger, more flexible and can be made thinner than presently available fine gauge double knit fabrics and which is also run resistant.

Another object of the invention is to provide a fine gauge double knit fabric the feel and texture (appearance) of which can be more readily controlled than heretofore.

Another object of the invention is to provide a fine gauge double knit fabric, the surface of which may be rendered finer-appearing by using finer yarns, this being in contrast to presently available interlock cloth in which heavier yarn is required to render the surface finer in appearance.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an improved method for forming a fine gauge double knit fabric.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent during a reading of the specification taken in connection 'with the accompanying drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an enlarged perspective view showing a portion of. a fabric constructed according to the invention; FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic illustration clearly showing the face loops of such fabric as formed by the cylinder needles of a circular interlock knitting machine, and the rear loops as formed by the dial needles of the machine.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawings, and in particular to FIG. 1 showing a portion of a double knit fabric wherein rear loops have been cross-hatched and face loops are without cross hatching, reference characters 1 through 6 inclusive designate yarns forming a pattern according to the invention. Yam 1 has long and short loops which appear on one side of the fabric (rear side as viewed in the drawings). As shown, such long and short loops alternate across the fabric. Yarn 2 has long and short loops which are on the face of the fabric and alternate across fabric. Yarn 3 has short loops appearing on the face side of the fabric at spaced intervals across the fabric and short loops appearing on the rear side of the fabric at spaced intervals. Each of yarns 4, 5 and 6 has loops that are like the loops of yarns 1, 2 and 3 respectively, are similarly arranged with respect to each other across the fabric and similarly positioned with respect to the face and rear side of the fabric. As shown, the yarn 4 includes long loops which are on the rear side of the fabric and short loops which are also on the rear side of the fabric, the long and short loops alternating across the fabric. Yam 5 includes long and short loops alternating across the fabric on its face side. Yam 6 includes short loops on the face side and short loops on the rear side of the fabric.

The short loops of the fabric are arranged in pairs. On the face side of the fabric each short loop in yarn 2 is paired and intermeshes with a face-side short loop in yarn 3, and each of the short loops in yarn 5 is paired and intermeshes with a face-side short loop in yarn 6. On the rear side of the fabric each of the short loops in yarn 1 is paired and intermeshes with a rear-side short loop in yarn 3, and each of the short loops in yarn 4 is paired and intermeshes with a rear-side short loop in yarn 6. As may be seen in FIG. 1, the short loop pairs formed with yarns 2 and 3 alternate with the long loops in yarn 2 across the fabric, that is, in courses on the face of the fabric, and the short loop pairs formed with yarns 5 and 6 alternate with the long loops in yarn 5 in courses on the face side of the fabric. The short loop pairs formed with yarns 1 and 3, and long loops in yarn 1 alternate across the fabric on the rear side thereof, as do the short loop pairs formed with yarns 4 and 6, and long loops in yarn 4. The two sides of the fabric are alike with courses including yarns 2 and 3 on the face side of the fabric overlying courses including yarns 1 and 3 on the rear side, and courses including yarns 5 and 6 on the face side overlying courses including yarns 4 and 6 on the rear side.

The pattern defined by yarns 1 through 6 is repeated throughout the fabric. Yarns 11, 12 and 13 corresponding to the yarns 1, 2 and 3 respectively, define a portion of the fabric adjacent to one edge of that part of the fabric which is formed by yarns 1 through 6 and yarns 14, 15, and 16 corresponding to yarns 4, 5 and 6 respectively, define a portion of the pattern adjacent to the other edge of such part of the fabric.

A fabric formed according to the described pattern may be made stronger, more flexible and thinner than presently available fine gauge double knit cloths, and is run resistant. In addition the feel and texture of the fabric of the pattern can be more readily controlled than heretofore.

One way in which the pattern of FIG. 1 may be conveniently manufactured is by performing the following steps on a suitably cammed circular dial and cylinder knitting machine having dial needles for forming loops 0n the rear side of the fabric and cylinder needles for forming loops on the face side, having interlock gating and having successive feeds 1 through 6 at which the yarns 1 through 6 respectively are made available (see FIG. 2):

Feed 1 (yarn 1)all dial needles knit to form the alternating short and long loops 1S, and 1L respectively while the cylinder needles welt,

Feed 2 (yarn 2)all the cylinder needles knit to form the alternating short and long loops 2S, and 2L respectively while all of the dial needles welt,

Feed 3 (yarn 3)every other dial needle knits to form short loops 3S intermeshing with the short dial loops 1S and every other cylinder needle knits to form short loops 3S; intermeshing with the short cylinder loops 28: while the remaining dial and cylinder needles welt,

Feed 4 (yarn 4)all of the dial needles knit to form long loops 4L intermeshing with short dial loops 3S and to form short loops 4S intermeshing with long dial loops 1L, while the cylinder needles welt,

Feed 5 (yarn 5)-all of the cylinder needles knit to form the short loops 5S intermeshing with the long cylinder loops 2L and to form the long cylinder loops 5L, intermeshing with the short cylinder loops 35: while the dial needles welt,

Feed 6 (yarn 6)-the cylinder needles which knit at feed number 3 welt and the remaining cylinder needles knit to form short loops 6S intermeshing with the short cylinder loops SS the dial needles which knit at feed 3 welt and the remaining dial needles knit to form short loops 6S intermeshing with the short dial loops 48,.

The six feeds required to produce the pattern of the invention consisting of three courses on each side of a fabric may be repeated around the machine to increase productivity, the number of repetitions possible being dependent upon the diameter of the machine.

While the invention has been described in its preferred form, it is to be understood that the words which have been used are words of description rather than of limitation, and that changes within the purview of the appended claims may be made without departing from the true scope and spirit of the invention.

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention what is claimed herein is:

1. A double knit fabric comprised of a plurality of individual yarns collectively defining two sides of the fabric each with both long and short loops, some of the said yarns individually forming both long and short loops and the others of the said yarns forming only short loops, the short loops on each side of the fabric being arranged in pairs in each of which the loops intermesh in wales of the fabric, the long loops on one side of the fabric alternating with the pairs of short loops on the said one side in courses and wales and intermeshing on the said one side with the pairs of short loops in the wales, the long loops on the other side of the fabric alternating with the pairs of short loops on the said other side in courses and wales and intermeshing on the said other side with the pairs of short loops in the wales.

2. The fabric of claim 1 wherein one yarn forms the long loops on one side of the fabric in predetermined courses, and another yarn forms the long loops in overlying courses on the other side of the fabric,

3. The fabric of claim 2 wherein said one yarn also forms short loops in said predetermined courses on said one side of the fabric and said another yarn forms short loops in said over-lying courses on the other side of the fabric.

4. The fabric of claim 3 wherein a third yarn forms short loops on said one side of the fabric each intermeshing with a short loop formed by said one yarn and forms short loops on the other side of the fabric each intermeshing with a short loop formed by said another yarn.

5. The fabric of claim 4 including other predetermined courses alternating with the first mentioned predetermined courses and in which a fourth yarn forms long and short loops on said one side of the fabric, a fifth yarn forms long and short loops in overlying courses on the other side of the fabric and a sixth yarn forms short loops on one side of the fabric each intermeshing with a short loop formed by said fourth yarn and forms short loops on the other side of the fabric each intermeshing with a short formed by said fifth yarn.

6. A method of knitting the courses of a fabric comprising the steps of forming long and short loops on one side of the fabric with one yarn, forming long and short loops on the other side of the fabric with another yarn, forming two series of short loops with still another yarn in positions wherein each loop of one series is on one side of the fabric and intermeshes with a short loop of the said one yarn, and each loop of the other series is on the other side of the fabric and intermeshes with a short loop of said one yarn and each long loop is on said one side of the fabric and intermeshes with a short loop of said still another yarn, forming long and short loops with an additional yarn in positions wherein each long loop is on said other side of the fabric and intermeshes with a short loop of said still another yarn and each short loop is on said other side of the fabric and intermeshes with a long loop of said another yarn, and forming two series of loops with another additional yarn in positions wherein each loop of one such series is on said one side of the fabric and intermeshes with a short loop of said yet another yarn and each loop of the other such series is on the other side of the fabric and intermeshes with a short loop of said additional yarn.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 709,734 9/1902 Bellis 66196 2,149,071 2/1939 Reynolds et al. 66l97 FOREIGN PATENTS 758,663 10/1956 Great Britain 66l97 WM. CARTER REYNOLDS, Primary Exmainer 

